National Heart Month: Love Yourself

Valentine’s Day is over, the bouquet of flowers on your desk are wilted and of course your chocolates were consumed several days ago!  My friend, do not fret!  While participating in the Winter Challenge, you can share a morsel of love with yourself everyday with a compliment.

There are numerous studies that have focused on the effects of complimenting yourself or positive self-talk throughout the years.  Many of those studies have centered on the impact your attitude can have on an athletic task.  For example, Judy L. Van Raalte , Britton W. Brewer , Brian P. Lewis , Darwyn E. Linder , Gregg Wildman , Johnathon Kozimor in 1995, studied the difference in dart-throwing performance between individuals who positively complimented themselves and those who were advised to negatively respond.  In this study, Raalte et. al, reaffirmed the notion that having a positive outlook on your situation can change the outcome and even enhance performance.  Those who complimented themselves and had used positive self-talk performed better than the participants who were negative.

Now, I recognize that most of us are not out competing in dart-throwing or necessarily in another sporting event, but the concept is the same--how we envision our situation can potentially shape the results.  How did you respond when you were faced with a challenge at work today?  When you did something well, did you allow yourself to celebrate?

30% of American adults strongly agree that on most days, they feel a sense of accomplishment from what they do.  That's only a third of adults!  We need to be better at loving ourselves.  Compliment your efforts, progress, accomplishments, and who you are.  You deserve the best! 

Honestly share morsels of love with yourself this week!

National Heart Month: Love Your Heart

This Valentine’s Day, express your love by loving yourself and those close to you by understanding what you can do to reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke.  Heart disease is the number one cause of death for men and women in the United States. 

Some have been curious why the Winter Challenge requests participants to track how much salt they are adding to their diet.  The challenge is not demanding that you eliminate salt from your diet, but an effort to increase awareness.  By becoming aware of how much salt you consume, you will hopefully become a more heart healthy conscious consumer.

According to results recently released by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 90% of Americans are getting more sodium than is healthy.  So, what are the recommendations for sodium intake?  The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 advises sodium intake should be limited to 2,300 mg a day.  But, according to CDC, 6 in 10 adults should be limiting your sodium intake to 1,500 mg a day.

Source: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010,
 http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdf

 Tips to Keep Your Sodium Intake Low and Your Heart Healthier:

• Read Nutrition Facts  label for information on the sodium content of foods and purchase foods that are low in sodium
• Consume more fresh foods and fewer processed foods that are high in sodium.
• When eating at restaurants, ask that salt not be added to your food or order lower sodium options, if available.